To identify the components of the visitors’ imaginary, we used a qualitative method and conducted semi-directed interviews in situ. To cover the multiplicity of tourist imaginaries, we opted for a diversity respondents. Thus, eleven nationalities are represented among the twenty interviewees. The in-depth interviews were conducted in the heart of the most famous temples like Angkor Wat, and areas further from the central zone like Bantei Srei. We also held interviews with residents to grasp the ties that bind them to the temples. To undertand the role of geographical proximity in the appropriation of temples and its relation to tourism, we questioned inhabitants living in villages more or less close to the temples.

Thus, through the help of an interpreter, we conducted fifteen interviews in five villages with informants from different social classes including merchants, police officers, temple guards, and farmers. The interviews took place in their homes or at their workplace.ĥAmong the visitors’ responses, one profile is widely represented: visitors didn’t imagine the site so large, they evoked the incredible aspect and the ancient character of the temples, they are particularly surprised by the sculptures and the way the temples have been built without the technology we have today. 'We did not know, we have misunderstood' (Interviewe # 5) 'You told me that it is still a place of worship, honestly, I can’t feel the sacred side of the place’’ (Interviewe # 6) The majority of the interviewees ignore the active character of the site and the presence of numerous dwellings around the temples.

Vue esprit 2014